Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT)

Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) is a system's ability to continue functioning correctly even when some participants (nodes) act unpredictably or maliciously. Imagine a group trying to agree on a decision, but some members might send false or conflicting information. BFT protocols ensure that honest members can reach consensus despite these problems, maintaining the system's security and reliability. This concept is crucial in distributed networks like blockchain, where trust in all participants can't be assumed, and resilience against faulty or malicious behavior is essential.